Who is Jesus Christ, Really?

Originally posted by Kalevipoeg In the end if Jesus existed it makes no difference, he might have been just some random Palestinian speechman who had spent too much time in the sun and began preaching. Most likely no one even listened him. All theories are equally valid because there is no way to prove anything.

One thing that makes it hard to say what Jesus is like is that the main parts of his story from the bible are taken from the Zoroastrian myth Mithras, which was a while before Jesus. Mithras, the son of God, born on December 25 to a virgin. He later was crucified.

Sounds very similar to the Christian Jesus, eh?

Can someone explain to me or direct me to a good website that explains more about the Apocryphal Gospels, such as the Gospel of Thomas, Mary Magdalene, and Judas.
Why were these Gospels not included in the New Testament? And and what exactly was the influence of IRENAEUS in this whole matter?

I can't see how Christianity got started without someone to start it. Which is my reason for believing Jesus existed.

Originally posted by Komnenos Haven't got time to explain it all, but the existing canon of the New Testament as accepted now by all mainstream Christian Churches was fixated at the end of the 4th century, the main influence was St. Anasthasius of Alexandria, as a selection of all the gospels and other texts that were circulating ( and there were numerous) at the time, as those that were representing most and best the then official doctrins of the Churchs. All other texts were excluded and many anathematised.

True, although it was more characterized by adding in things (usually by supposedly unknown authors) than excluding things. The early lists of synodical canon were generally shorter than the present one, which is one of the longest.

When you search back will you get a connection between christianity and myths from the stone age, basically it had to have come from the cave religions. It would be fascinating to get a connection between some animistic myths from let's say 10,000BC and Abrahamic religions.

Originally posted by machine One thing that makes it hard to say what Jesus is like is that the main parts of his story from the bible are taken from the Zoroastrian myth Mithras, which was a while before Jesus. Mithras, the son of God, born on December 25 to a virgin. He later was crucified. Sounds very similar to the Christian Jesus, eh?   Really??? What about Islam???

They probably took parts from both myths.

Originally posted by Komnenos The� pool of "Ur-myths" is probably quite small, and determined by the eternal hopes, fears� and questions of humans. Resurrection, Virgin birth, divine descent, self-sacrifice, the whole scope of miracles attributed to Jesus, and so on, are ever recurring themes in human�intellectual speculation, and Christianity is no exception. Not necessarily as the product of being informed or influenced by other religions, but as an expression of inherent human imagination.

The thing is that there are very clear parallells which go far beyond simple vagueries.

For instance, in one myth, a sacred paradisical garden is created, called Dilmun, for the delight of the goddess Ninhursag. A man named Adapa is put in charge of the garden, but he becomes too curious and eats seven plants. Ninhursag becomes enraged and strikes him with a pain in his rib, whereupon the other gods suggest she should have mercy. So she creates a woman - Ninti ("Lady of the Rib") to heal him. Adapa is also identified in other writings as the first human. In another myth, Adapa angers the gods and is called to heaven to answer for himself. There, one of the gods predisposed to favour him greets him and warns him not to eat of the food for it may have been poisoned by some of the more vengeful gods. Later, among the rest of the gods, a serpent-god offers Adapa some of the food, stating that the food of the gods is the source of immortality.

Other tales feature trees in sacred gardens inhabited by problematic serpents, holy tablets of instructions, an apocalyptic flood featuring a ship filled with animals, and so on.

There is also the minor fact that Abraham himself says that he's originally from Ur.
    

Edited by edgewaters - 29-Jun-2006 at 09:59

Jesus is simply this:

Our lord and saviour who has died for our sins so that we can reach eternal glory with him in heaven and will come again to judge us to either we will go to heaven or hell. Praise be upon his name!

He was human,  not like any other , a soul who knew and study everything.  He knew what would happen not only to himself on his mission, but  of the future of the whole human race. 

Even when I was a believer, I always had a lot of problem with the awkward way the concept of the Holy Trinity was presented to me and defended by those who talked it. As a result, even while I was leading Bible study groups, I always secretly wished no one would ask me detailed questions on this concept because I wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about. As far as I know, the concept of "Trinity" is one of the most key concepts in Christianity that do not have a clear scriptural basis and it is definitely a subsequent theological "add-on".